John 4:1-42
Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— 2 although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3 So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.
4 Now he had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.
7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.[a])
11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”
13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”
17 “I have no husband,” she replied.
Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”
19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”
27 Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”
28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.
31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”
32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”
33 Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”
34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”
39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers.
42 They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”
Footnotes
- John 4:9 Or do not use dishes Samaritans have used
Choosing Your Battles
John 4:1-3
Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.
The Pharisees heard Jesus was becoming more popular than John the Baptist. They also heard wrong information – that Jesus was baptizing – when really, it was Jesus’ disciples who were baptizing. What is the next thing the Pharisees are going to do after hearing this information about Jesus? They’re going to leave John alone and go hassle Jesus. Knowing that’s what’s about to happen, what does Jesus do? He avoids the conflict altogether and leaves before the Pharisees can get to Him.
Was that the right thing to do? Because it was Jesus, we have to say yes. But it goes against our way of thinking, doesn’t it? If I were in Jesus’ sandals, for example, I might want to stand my ground and say, “Let the Pharisees come! I’m doing important work here. I’m teaching people, and My disciples are baptizing new followers. I won’t stop just because someone wants to come start an argument with Me.”
But Jesus knew He could also do effective ministry somewhere else. Look at what happens next when He goes to Samaria. By leaving His baptizing spot in Judea, He is practicing both wisdom and peace and gains new believers from a new group of people. He avoids conflict when He can and rather than forcing a door of opportunity to stay open, He simply trusts God to open another, more fruitful one.
There are some spiritual and moral battles in which we need stand our ground. There are others in which practicing peace is the better stance. Will you be open to the Spirit’s leading to show you when to dig in your heels and when to move on to the next opportunity He has for you?
He Had To
John 4:3
Now he had to go through Samaria.
Jesus had to go through Samaria, and He had to do it NOW. Now was the time for the Samaritans to experience God’s salvation.
The Samaritans were people who worshiped God, but their theology wasn’t quite right. Jesus told the woman He meets here that Samaritans worship what they do not know. Their thinking is a little off. They don’t have quite the right ideas about God. Have you ever known someone who sincerely believe in God but had some wrong ideas about Him? Have you ever been in that situation yourself?
The Samaritans, for instance, considered only the first five books of the Old Testament to be Scripture. They ignored things like the Books of Samuel, the Kings, Psalms, Proverbs, the Prophets. They had every opportunity to read and study these other books. They were the Jewish people who were left in the land after the Babylonians carried the upper crust of Judean society into Exile.
But these Samaritans also disobeyed the first five book of the Scriptures. Moses told the Israelites not to intermarry with people of other nations because they would cause the Israelites to worship false gods. When the population of Judah was diminished from Babylon carrying so many into Exile, other people groups began to move into the void. Those Jews (people from Judah) who were left intermarried with these newcomers, thus breaking the command.
Finally, the Samaritans had built a rival Temple on Mount Gerizim, which if they had read the other Scriptures, they would have known that the only Temple was to be in Jerusalem. The Jews destroyed the Gerizim Temple in 128 BC.
For these reasons, all good Jews disliked Samaritans. And Samaritans weren’t happy with the Jews because they resented the Jews for despising them and destroying their Temple.
But Jesus had to go through Samaria. He had to correct their thinking. He had to bring them forgiveness. He had to raise them up to be citizens of His Kingdom.
What is Jesus telling you you have to do?
Love at the Well
John 4:5-6
So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.
The town was called Sychar, but you might remember its earlier name: Shechem. It’s where the daughter of Jacob, Dinah, was raped. It’s where a woman was taken advantage of. It’s where a daughter of God was abused and disrespected in the most heinous way.
But speaking of Jacob, this well Jesus comes to speak to this woman is the same well Jacob gave to his favorite son, Joseph. Joseph was Jacob’s favorite because he was the son of his favorite wife, Rachel. Do you remember where Jacob met Rachel?
At a well.
Do you remember what time of day it was?
Noon.
You can read Genesis 29 for the full account, but what I want to point out is that the story of Jacob and Rachel would have been every Jew and Samaritan’s favorite love story, and Jesus purposely reenacts it here. I wonder if the woman at the well was named Rachel. Or maybe it was Dinah?
Either way, Jesus comes to this woman who has been beaten down by life and taken advantage of – quite possibly through no fault of her own – and offers to be the Husband, the Redeemer, the Savior she needs. comes to her in her brokenness calls her into the closest relationship with Himself.
Don’t you just love Jesus?
Why Do You Approach People?
John 4:7-9
When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
One of the children in my House Church this week asked, “If Jews didn’t talk to Samaritans, how could the disciples go into their town to buy food?”
That’s a good question, isn’t it? When he asked that, all the adults had to stop and think for a few seconds. Then this thought hit me: Jesus and the disciples had just been on a journey. It says even Jesus was tired. We also read that it was about noon when they arrived, which means they were hungry and ready for lunch. The provisions they packed from the last town must have run out because they had to go into Sychar to buy food. So, the disciples went into town and talked to Samaritans because they needed something.
Jesus, in the meantime, sat down by the well and waited to talk to this Samaritan woman because He wanted to give her something.
The disciples spoke to Samaritans because they wanted something from them. Jesus spoke to a Samaritan because He wanted to offer something to her.
Why do you approach people? Do you only look to receive, or do you look to give?
Who Are You Drinking?
John 4:10, 13-14
Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water...Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
What water does Jesus give us? He calls it the living water. In the Old Testament, God is twice called the “fountain of living water” (Jeremiah 2:13 and 17:13).
Jesus gives us nothing less than God! And He compares God with natural water, drawing the contrast between the normal, everyday things of life and the things of eternal life. It reminds us of the conversation Jesus had with Nicodemus in the previous chapter – “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but Spirit gives birth to spirit.” To paraphrase, “Natural life is one thing; spiritual life is completely different!”
The things of this natural life are from God, yes, but they will leave us thirsting for more. The only thing that really satisfies us is God Himself. Today, make sure you’re drinking in not only the good things God gives you in this life, but you’re drinking in the Lord Himself. You’re soaking in His Presence. You’re taking Him into the deepest parts of you and letting Him quench the dryness that’s down deep. Drink God until you’re so full of Him you find yourself in eternal life.
When you drink deeply of God, you will never need anything else.
Worshiping in Spirit and Truth
John 4:23-24
“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
What does it mean to worship in spirit and in truth? The best I can say is that it means to mean it. Don’t go through the ritual of worshiping God. In fact, fight against the ritual mentality. Catch yourself when you’re doing it. The woman in this story, and the Jews of Jesus’ day, thought that as long as they went to a certain place and made the right sacrifices and followed the right laws, they were worshiping God.
God did demand such things, but Jesus teaches us here that even more important than the place or the other rules God commanded to be followed is our sincerity in worship.
If you’re in a time of worship, check yourself and ask if you’re merely singing the songs and going through motions of the service. If so, ask the Holy Spirit within you to help you focus on and actually mean what you’re doing.
You Don’t Have to “Get It!”
John 4:25-27
The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”
But Jesus still didn’t explain everything to her! Why? Because He knew she was stalling, putting up excuses, trying not to deal with the real issue, which was accepting Jesus as her Messiah. See, when we place our trust in Christ, we don’t need Him to explain everything to us. We simply trust.
We trust He loves us. We trust He forgives us. We trust He has our eternity in His hands. We trust He has a good will for us in this life – though He determines what is “good,” not us. We trust Him.
The next verse says, Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”
The disciples (in this moment at least) didn’t feel the need to ask Jesus questions. They trusted that whatever He was doing was the right thing to do.
Will you stop asking questions and trust Him?
How to Build the Kingdom
John 4:28-30, 35-42
Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” They came out of the town and made their way toward him.
Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”
But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”
Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”
“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”
Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers.
They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”
What we have here is a blueprint for reaching people for Jesus:
- Once we experience Jesus, we go tell other people about our experiences
- We get our energy and fulfillment from doing the Lord’s work
- We don’t put evangelism off but trust that right now, God has someone for us to reach
- We work together to reach people, sowing and reaping as God gives us the opportunities
- People believe in Jesus not because of us but because we present the opportunity to experience Him personally
How can you sow and reap today? The harvest is there if you’re willing to go out into the field.
John 4:43-54
After the two days he left for Galilee. 44 (Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.) 45 When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, for they also had been there.
46 Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. 47 When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death.
48 “Unless you people see signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.”
49 The royal official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.”
50 “Go,” Jesus replied, “your son will live.”
The man took Jesus at his word and departed. 51 While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. 52 When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, “Yesterday, at one in the afternoon, the fever left him.”
53 Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he and his whole household believed.
54 This was the second sign Jesus performed after coming from Judea to Galilee.
Welcome AND Honor Him
John 4:44-45
Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country. When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, for they also had been there.
Jesus grew up in Nazareth in Galilee. He was going back to Galilee after traveling for a brief time. The text implies that the Galileans didn’t honor Jesus as a prophet, but they did welcome Him when He returned. How could they welcome Him but not honor Him?
It says they saw what He did at the Passover Festival – turning over the tables of the money changers and chasing the merchants out of the Temple with a whip. Maybe they applauded what Jesus did in trying to correct the abuses at the Temple. Maybe they wanted to see what their hometown boy Jesus would do next. They were amused by Him.
But they didn’t honor Him as a prophet sent from God. They didn’t believe and respond to His message. They didn’t leave their old lives and follow Jesus as His disciples.
Sometimes, we can welcome Jesus without honoring Him too. We can welcome what He might do in our lives without truly honoring Him for who He is. We can welcome His grace and His comfort and His blessings without then drawing closer to Him and obeying Him more completely. Maybe we simply “get used” to Jesus and forget how much we need to honor Him.
I want to welcome and honor Jesus in all aspects of my life. Do you?
Transformation!
John 4:46
Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum.
The Apostle John, the writer of this Gospel, makes a point to remind us that this event happened at the same place Jesus turned water into wine. That bit of information purposely links these two stories together. John is saying, “Do you remember what Jesus did with the water? This next thing is like that.”
So, what does Jesus turning water into wine have to do with Him healing this royal official’s son? Both stories are about miracles of transformation. In the first story, Jesus transforms water into wine. He takes the substance of the water and makes it much richer, better, more joy-giving. Just ask the guests at the wedding how much they enjoyed Jesus’ wine!
In the second story, Jesus transforms terminal sickness into health. Near death into life. Has Jesus brought you from sickness into health? Have you been as fully transformed in your state of being as this dying son was?
There’s a second transformation here. After the man takes Jesus at His word and returns home to find out that things happened just as Jesus said, he and his whole family believed. That man and his entire family were transformed. Water into wine.
Do you want Jesus to transform you like that? I find it interesting that Jesus was coming back to Cana in Galilee, but this man was from Capernaum. That’s 20 miles away from Cana! In those days, 20 miles was a long trip. He had to travel to come see Jesus and get the transformation he was looking for.
How far are you willing to go in your own life to be transformed? Are you willing to put some work in to allow Jesus to change you, just like this man had to put some effort into going to see Jesus?
Water into wine. Sickness to health. Unbelief to faith.
Do You Need All That?
John 4:48
“Unless you people see signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.”
Do you need signs and wonders from Jesus to believe in Him? Do you need the miracles? What if you never saw healing or amazing rescues or any other miracles in your life? What if life with Jesus was simply drawing close and learning from Him?
Can you believe based on everyday life with Jesus?
Faith is Belief
John 4:50
The man took Jesus at his word and departed.
Do you take Jesus at His word even when you have no evidence of your situation changing yet? If He told you He would help you with something, do you still believe even it takes a while to see that help? Do you believe God’s promises even when they haven’t been fulfilled yet?
Much of the Christian life is having faith and believing God will do for us what He promised. If we were in the place of the royal official, we wouldn’t want to leave Jesus. We would want Him to come with us and do what we asked. We wouldn’t let Him leave our side until the miracle happened. But the man too Jesus at His word and departed. He put his faith in what Jesus said and moved on. He moved past doubt, past fear, past anxiety about what was happening in his situation.
Will you take Jesus at His word and move on with your life?
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